Netflix’s Lockwood and Co is Pretty Cool!

Yes, I’m a grown woman who watches YA fantasy shows, this surprises nobody at this point. But my standards have indeed changed with age and it’s (regrettably) more difficult for a show to keep my attention and keep me entertained. Otherwise I’d have so many more series to fill my time with. Alas, I bore more easily than I did at fifteen. Which is why I was actually pretty surprised to finish the first season of “Lockwood and Co” in two days, and it only took me this long because I had actual work to do.

Now, I’m not saying that this show is the most original thing ever. In terms of plot it’s pretty standard YA fantasy fare (even maybe tending more towards middle-grade), but it’s done just competently enough to grab me. They say the devil is in the details but sometimes that’s where success lies as well.

The Premise

The story takes place mainly in London. Some time in the past the world was suddenly invaded by deadly ghosts who only show up at night. Only certain children can sense them (in different ways, including seeing them, hearing them or feeling ghostly energy when touching objects) and neutralise them. Thus, many of these children are sent to academies to learn how to master their gifts. Our main character Lucy Carlyle is forced into one of these academies at age thirteen by her uncaring mother who is only after the money Lucy earns as a ghost-hunter.

To my relief, we don’t spend too much time at the academy itself – the magical school trope has been truly overdone these days and I don’t know how much patience I would have had for it. But we do see Lucy meet her best friend Norrie there, and the two start making big plans to move to London once Lucy completes her final year of training. Then, of course, disaster strikes. A group of trainees, including Lucy and Norrie, are sent to deal with what is supposed to be a simple haunting but turns out to be a lot more dangerous. As their adult supervisor abandons them (to be honest, I’m not quite sure what he could have done when adults no longer have gifts, but he is clearly portrayed as a liar and a prick so I guess we don’t need too much more reason to hate him), Lucy’s peers die, except for Norrie who is “ghost-locked” – the equivalent of a ghost-induced coma. There is a brief court trial against the kids’ supervisor which he wins. Lucy’s word as the only witness is ignored, solidifying what has been already established – adults in this story are either malevolent or useless. That’s one of the things that gives it middle-grade vibes, but I don’t mind too much. You have to somehow justify why a bunch of sixteen-year-olds are fighting the forces of evil on their own and doing things sixteen-year-olds shouldn’t be doing. It’s not that they are too stupid to ask adults for help, it’s just that the adults around them have betrayed their trust too many times. As far as I’m concerned - fair enough.

So, despite not having completed her fourth and final year of training, Lucy runs away from home and goes to London, like she and Norrie planned. She tries to apply for a place at some of the big ghost-hunting agencies there but without parental permission and full qualifications no one gives her the time of day until she stumbles upon Lockwood and Co – a small new agency run by a kid roughly her age called Anthony Lockwood from his large house in central London. Anthony has no parents and the only other employee at the agency is another boy named George Karim who is our compulsory socially awkward geek. Lucy obviously can’t afford to be too picky so once Anthony has tested her talents, she is hired and their adventures begin.

From here on the plot is very much what you would expect from a ghost-hunting show – there are a few monsters of the week, as well as an overarching mystery to hold it all together. We have the usual frenemies and semi-antagonists – rival agents from the biggest agency, as well as a detective who is initially intent on closing the agency down for its many legal infractions (including hiring Lucy when she’s not fully qualified). Many of the side characters are given some nuance, which is nice, and while the storylines are predictable, they are not boring. One small negative is that Lucy and her friends do often have to act inexplicably recklessly to get the plot going, but they are after all teenagers in the ghost mini-apocalypse where adults aren’t worth turning to, so I’m willing to excuse that.

The Cast and Characters

Good casting goes a long way towards helping viewers fall in love with the characters and in this case the casting director has done an excellent job.

Ruby Sokes in the role of Lucy is both memorable and very likeable. Despite the character falling a little bit into the ‘chosen one’ trope when we discover that her gifts are beyond those of her peers, she manages to remain very down-to-earth and believable. Her heightened abilities are presented more as an accident than a personal achievement and you never get the feeling that she sees herself as something different from other kids. Her connection with Norrie is nicely handled as well – the best friend she had to leave behind never feels like an expendable character only there to drive the plot.

George Karim (originally George Cubbins in the books) is portrayed by Ali Hadji-Heshmati. Changing George’s race and surname is quite welcome as otherwise there would be very little diversity in the show. He is also not portly, thus avoiding another tired cliche. Quite a lot of care is taken to make sure that George doesn’t get easily eclipsed by Lucy and Lockwood who are the more obvious main characters. He has the obvious but very believable conflict of feeling like a third wheel to their obvious budding romance and being the least physically active member of the agency, leading him to be seen as less of a hero. While these insecurities lead him astray, he is portrayed as ultimately devoted to his friends and has a satisfying character arc.

Cameron Chapman (in his debut!) as Anthony Lockwood is everything one could wish for in a teen heartthrob and more. Lockwood, as he portrays him, is a little cocky, a little reckless, a little tortured, but at no point does he actually come across as uncaring. His interactions with his two partners are predominantly warm and kind, despite a thin veneer of arrogance. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate a hero and love interest who is actually not afraid to be nice sometimes. It makes it easy to root for his relationship with Lucy. There’s an easy chemistry there and the characters appear to genuinely fit together, with Lucy pulling him back to earth when he gets too reckless and him challenging her when she is too timid. Overall, Lockwood’s demeanour is a charming combination of confident and boyishly awkward.

The secondary characters are all given little moments to shine. Flo Bones (portrayed by Haley Konadu), who is a relic-woman and an old friend of Anthony’s, has all of the usual makings of a fan favourite with her quirky, free-spirited personality and while her flirting with George feels a little contrived she is a lot of fun to watch. Quill Kipps (Jack Bandeira), with whom Anthony has a bit of a feud, is refreshingly not just a schoolyard bully. Inspector Barnes (Ivanno Jeremia) who starts out as a semi-antagonist but gradually becomes nearly the only adult who is ever helpful in any way is an enjoyable character in his own right. I sympathised with how exasperated the poor man must be. The actual villains – and here I mean the human villains as the ghosts are not really characters with a whole lot of personality – are predictable but intimidating enough, thanks to the inherent power imbalance between children and adults. Overall, the cast works really well together.

The Stunts and Visuals

Nothing to complain about here, the effects do the job. They’re not anything new or mind-blowing but they don’t need to be, they just need to serve the story.

We have an impressive variety of locations for a show such as this and an impressive number of stunts and battle choreography. Let’s be honest, rapiers are cool. Really, there is absolutely no logical reason for these kids to be fighting ghosts with rapiers, other than the fact that rapiers are cool. And to the show’s credit, they utilise their coolness quite a bit. We see a good number of training scenes and choreographed fights which look pretty believable under the circumstances. Overall, it’s a pretty good-looking show.

Small note: The outfits are, for the most part, fine but there are a couple of moments where the fashion is – forgive an expat who has lived in the UK for 15 years, it’s a jab made with love – appropriately godawful for Britain. Points for accuracy but Lucy’s formal ensemble with the thick black tights killed me. ;) Also, can we please for once not have a ‘strong female character’ go ‘urgh’ when she hears she has to wear a dress? It’s gotten pretty old.

Final Thoughts

Lockwood and Co is an exciting and competently put together show for both teens and those of us who are a bit older but still enjoy fantastic tales. It’s not trying to be unnecessarily edgy or say more than it needs to – it’s just a great example of the genre. Add the lovable cast and you have a winner. I fully recommend it.